Jun 20, 2014

Tubuai – Administrative Center of the Austral Islands

Don't tell me how educated you are,
Tell me how much you traveled.
Mohamed

Taking your pig to work day... Walking his pig - baguette on back of bike...
The Austral Islands are known as the “Authentic Islands”.  With so little influence from tourism, they are very much like the Marquesas with reefs. 

Jun 19, 2014

Raivavae - The Bora Bora of 50-75 Years Ago

You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.
Dr. Seuss

Bénitier (giant small clam) 
Although they come in different colors the blue ones are my favorites
We thought we were in a bind when the freight boat we had planned on boarding to come to the Austral Islands decided to change course, not caring of the impact it also has on the local farmers and fishermen.  They plan the picking of their crops/fish/seafood around the arrival of that boat.  If the boat is a week ahead or behind, crops are not picked on time or have been picked too long ago.  This is especially true when dealing with flowers, fragile fruits, vegetables or fish/seafood, making them no longer sellable.  It also means some stores run out of items: diesel, gasoline, cream, fresh fruits and veggies, etc.

Jun 18, 2014

Goodbye Atolls – Leaving for the Austral Islands

When you are everywhere, you are nowhere.
When you are somewhere, you are everywhere.
Rumi

It rained so much even the oily Tiare Tahiti became translucent
We experience our first whole day of torrential rains.  Supposedly, it is the dry winter season down under...  The locals are questioning this odd wetter than usual weather (El Niño?).  We nearly go stir crazy even though we have great accommodations.  We feel sorry for the folks in boats at anchor.  We meet one boater who escaped to go for a wet walk like us and she shared just how muggy it is in a ‘closed’ boat.  We’ve seen a few blue tarps pop up since last night, an indication of boats not completely waterproof?

Jun 8, 2014

Fakarava – Another Atoll Famous for Diving & Snorkeling

We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.
Anonymous

One of our rides on Fakarava - comfy and colorful
Atolls are mostly for water sports.  If you don’t dive, snorkel, fish, kite surf, etc, there is not much for you to do in such locations.  There are however always people to meet. 

Jun 6, 2014

Rangiroa - Vast Sky Atoll

Travel makes one modest; 
You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.
Gustave Flaubert 

White terns flying above lagoon
Our second Tuomatu atoll and it’s just as windy, cloudy, and stormy as it was in Tikehau so we don’t get to see as much as we’d like but cannot complain as we watch sailboats and catamarans wildly pitching and bucking side to side or up and down at anchor.  They are waiting for a nice weather window to get out of here and some have been here for nearly a week… 

Tikehau – Our First Atoll in the Tuomatus

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry,
And narrow mindedness.
Mark Twain

Ragged coral reefs along sandy beach
Little is to be said of Tikehau, our first atoll in the Tuomatus.  The word is that in 1987 Jacques Cousteau studied its lagoon and discovered it held the greatest variety and concentration of fish he’d seen anywhere else in French Polynesia.  He also declared it one the richest atolls on earth… Hence some of the fame this small place lives off decades later.

Bora Bora – The Pearl of the Pacific

Travel doesn't become adventure 
Until you leave yourself behind.
Marty Rubin

On shuttle between airport and main island
We almost didn’t come here due to the overall bad publicity Bora Bora has amongst sailors and other types of travelers.  True that it is touristic and expensive but that is also true of anywhere else you go in French Polynesia to one degree or another. 

Jun 4, 2014

Maupiti – The Smallest of the Leeward Islands

Too often... I would hear men boast of the miles 
Covered that day, rarely of what they had seen.
Louis L'Amour

Boat ride from airport to motu
We finally make it to the smallest (of the ones we visited) of the Leeward Islands, Maupiti, and are a little miffed when we find out our pension Rose des Iles didn’t know we were coming, even after two confirmations.  Thankfully another group of three ladies was being picked up by the owner of the pension so we tagged along hoping to soon clear things up.

Jun 2, 2014

Tahaa (Vanilla Island) and Raiatea (Sacred Island)

There is no shame in not knowing;
The shame lies in not finding out.
Russian Proverb

Aro, our tour guide, also paddles pirogues - check out the arms!
Located in the same lagoon are two islands Tahaa and Raiatea.  We first visit the northernmost and smallest one, Tahaa or Vanilla Island named such since they produce 80% of French Polynesia's delicious vanilla.

Huahine – Rebels in the Garden or Wild Island

There are no foreign lands.
It is the traveler only who is foreign.
Robert Louis Stevenson

Finally a truly crystal clear aquamarine bay
While biking on the island of Huahine we noticed on the entrance of a school the following sign: 

"Two  teachers at such and such school are on strike today while 
the 2 teachers at this other school are not…"  

Only in a French country?  A week later we are on a third island and the strike still continues…